Had a great time on a rainy day with the guides! We were shorthanded in a raft with Georgia, but she did a great job coordinating us through the Horseshoe rapids. Would highly recommend making time for this when you're in town read more

Amazing time! We had a blast. Our guide, Dani was so much fun!! If I am ever back in Canada I will absolutely go again. This was my first time, and I absolutely loved it! read more

Chinook Rafting - White water raft - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Banff, Alberta

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Emailed Chinook Rafting to inform them that I needed to cancel my reservation because my flight got canceled. .They kept my money and didn't even bother replying to my email. Shady. read more

Our guide, Richard, who appears to be the head guide, was showing preferential treatment to the other family that was on our raft. He gave them attention, getting to know them and to us nothing!!. He kept ignoring my young son's sweet questions on the gentle part of the end rating when there's not much to do and we were just flowing down. He was quite mean when he did respond. We've been rafting many times and this was the worst rafting experience. The class 3 rapids felt like a mild 2. And the excess focus on safety meant that we didn't go down from start to finish but kept stopping and regrouping. Stopping and regrouping. Waiting unnecessarily took the fun out of the experience and made it boring. This is was so unnecessary and weird. I couldn't wait for the end. We're ( all the rafts) are all ending in the same place?!?. I would recommend other rafting places in the area. we've done rafting two other places in Banff, Europe, and Oregon they were all A grade experiences. read more

Booked this rafting tour and we absolutely loved it. I'm not a great swimmer but I am adventurous and our guide Gabriel was top notch. He was funny, but informative and I felt totally safe and comfortable out in the water with his guidance. They supply everything you need to make sure the trip down stream is exhilarating but safe. I would highly recommend this rafting company. After our trip they provided hot coffee, tea and hot chocolate with some granola bars. Everyone sat around talking about how much fun it was. They also upload complimentary photos taken by a photographer during the trip. Now that's courtesy read more

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We did the family whitewater raft on the kananakis river with our 5 and 12 year old. Our guide Quinn was awesome especially with our 5 year old Ethan. Quinn was young but totally experienced and in control. All the stars! read more

Went rafting today in Canmore with my family. Hazel was the absolute best river guide. Fun, personable, exciting, and had great interpersonal skills. She made the trip worth it. read more

Highlight of the trip! My first time rafting was a great one. I did the beginner level, which was level 1-3. The instructors were all very helpful, knowledgeable, and skilled. They made me feel very confident, but not over confident. The river was fun and very cold, but don't worry the company provides everything you need to keep you warm. A wet suit, fleece, water resistant jacket, booties, helmet, and life jacket. Do bring swimming cloths because you will be wearing that and putting the wet suit over that. The less you wear the better, so the wet suit can do it's job to keep you warm. They have a changing room on site in a big tent. Also bring slippers and a towel to dry you off afterwards. They have a room to lock your items or you can lock them in your car if you wish. You will get wet, so no cameras or watches that aren't water proof. They do offer a CD with photographs as there is a photographer on land taking pictures of you journey at certain key points. The CD is an added cost. I did bring my own waterproof camera. I secured the camera to my life vest and tucked it in my life vest. Keeping it on my wrist would have hit the paddle too much or worse, hit someone else. The meeting point is not the address on yelp. Chinook rafting website should have the meeting point once you make reservations. I recommend this to anyone! They do offer tours for certain handicaps and young ages on the beginner level. It was very safe, but not at all boring. Of course, there are always dangers in nature, but I never felt I was going to get injured. This rafting memory will last forever. read more

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This was so much fun! it was our first time white water rafting and with the kids took the class 2-3 to ease us in. All the guides are friendly, funny and helpful! Abby checked us in and took fantastic pictures that you can review at the end. The guides are from all over .. Peru (Alexis), Australia (Alex), Holland (Richard), England (Chris), Abby and Duncan (Canada) and ? (Patrick). They are pros, walk you through everything you need to know in an orderly way that anticipates all your questions and review the safety do/do not's. It's about a 90-120 min session where the rapids get you water during the first part and then the last 30-45 min it's more mild. You do have to contribute your fair share of paddling, but the instructions at the beginning make this super simple to follow. There are also 2 points where you can go for a swim, however the water is very, very cold (4 degrees Celsius) so be warned. At the end they have coffee, hot chocolate, fruit and cookies to help end the trip which you can enjoy while looking at the amazing photos Abby took. Definitely enjoyable for the whole family. We're ready for class 4-5 now :) read more

Great fun for our family of five. Well run. Guides were very skilled. Don't miss out on the cliff jump.

one of the better run activities I have done on a vacation. Georgia was great, and every single staff member had great enthusiasm, and overall just made the trip the best they possible could have. would highly suggest! read more

Here's the thing. My sister and I did the Adventure tour back in 2016 down the Horseshoe. The water was a gorgeous turquoise and we had fun guiding the front of the raft riding the rapids. My lower rating comes from this: For the cliff jump, my sister and I both opted to try the higher jump. Before you jump, the guides check your life vest to make sure it's secure. Our guide pulled my vest uncomfortably tight, and when I mentioned this, I was told it needed to be that tight for safety. After my jump, the impact from hitting the water knocked the wind out of me and literally almost broke my ribs. After being submerged in the river, the first thing you want to do when you pop up to the surface is BREATHE. Well I couldn't. My life vest was so tight that I was gasping for air and dude it was a STRUGGLE. Combine that with trying to swim to shore and fighting the strong river current, and it's a lot. I managed to get to shore (thanks, swim team!), but my ribs hurt like a bitch for almost 2 weeks after and I literally had crazy bruises. When my little sister jumped, the same thing happened to her. She got the wind knocked out of her and couldn't breathe, only she is not as strong as a swimmer and she was majorly struggling. She couldn't breathe and through the panic, couldn't swim. Two guides jumped in after her to help her and get her to shore. I thought for a horrifying minute that I was maybe about to watch my sister drown. The guides were great at acting fast to get her, but PLEASE PLEASE stop making the vests so tight that they become a safety HAZARD. Otherwise, the trip was lovely. I'd rate it higher, but the physical pain and trauma from the jump really kind of dampened our experience. That said, the cliff jump and rafting pictures came out awesome. It's very nice of this company to offer free photos. read more

If you are looking to go rafting around this area, Chinook Rafting is the group to do it with. We did the Horseshoe Canyon tour, and we were very happy we decided to do this one. Chinook offers three different rafting tours; Horseshoe Canyon is in the middle of the three in terms of difficulty. My girlfriend and I had never gone rafting, but I would consider both of us to be fit. The rapids were not too intense for us. I think that most people could handle Horseshoe, but families with younger children may want to do the easier tour. Our tour guide Ariel did a wonderful job navigating us down the river. He had lots of interesting facts about the area surrounding us, and he also cracked a lot of jokes along the way. It was obvious that he really enjoyed rafting which made it more fun for everybody else as well. The group takes pictures of you along the river and offers the picture at the end of the tour. Go through this group if you plan on rafting while you're here! read more

Very fun and loved Rachel! She's a great guide and deserves a case of beer for her excellent hospitality.

One of the best experiences of my life - but be prepared to be sore later! Our guide was Dom for the early morning rafting (Horseshoe Canyon) and he was so amazing that we requested him again for our afternoon rafting of the Kananaskis River! He was very professional, while still keeping everything fun and informative. Splashing around in the rapids and then lying around in the "refreshing" water was really incredible. If you choose to go down the Horseshoe Canyon, just remember to listen to every command they say, especially "Over Left!". They offer you a fleece and jacket, but I really don't recommend them. It gets pretty warm as long as the sun is out. One thing we did notice is that they provided a lot of instruction on rafting during the first one, but for the second one there wasn't quite as much. Not sure if this was because he knew that 60% of our group already knew how to raft at this point or if the second river was easier so they didn't need to know as much. After your trip down the river, they always provide refreshments which is a welcome relief after being in the cold water. I don't recommend bringing a camera, even if it's waterproof, because you're mostly spending your time paddling. The go-pros seemed to be very effective though. A wonderful experience and as always, don't forget to tip your guide! read more

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It was my family and I's first time rafting and we had a great time! All of the guides were super fun and had just as good of a time as we did. Our guide was Duncan. He made sure we had a blast. Definitely would recommend!! read more

Chinook Rafting - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Banff, Alberta

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Our family was spending the week in Banff and was looking for adventurous to do. I came across rafting (always wanted to do it) on a google search for family adventure. I appreciated the fact that they went as low as 5 years old (40lbs). The price seem reasonable so we booked for 9 people (5 adults and 4 kids). We got a confirmation email with all of the detailed info. I confirmed via email the day before and we were all set. On the day of rafting, we were fortunate to have awesome weather. The directions on the email was very easy to follow and we arrived after 40 mins of driving (from Banff town). We were early and just waited til approx 1:10pm (start time 1:30pm). We were given a quick orientation and signed our waiver. I was very impressed with the info that was given. Every thing was very clear throughout the orientation and the rest of the day. They have the whole process down pat. You go through a very quick line to get all of your gear (shoes, wet suit, jacket, life jacket, and helmet). You really only have to bring a swimming suit and towel. I highly recommend a go pro, slippers, and sun block. We all changed quickly and got on to the bus. IT was about a 15 mins drive to the actual river. This was followed by a 15 min safety orientation. IT was easy to follow and the guide gave a very entertaining presentation. Then we were off. We were lucky to have our own guide and be paired up with Dom. From start to finish, he was fantastic. We had 2 young kids (5y/o and 8y/o) and he was great with them. He was very entertaining and made our day very fun. We always felt safe. The rapids were grade 2-3 and was great for our family. You will definitely get wet. The wet suits kept us fairly warm. The scenery was amazing. The 1.5 hrs on the water was great for us. Not too short and not too long. When you arrive at shore, it was a quick ride back to base. We were given some refreshment and sent on our way. from door to door, it was a little over 3 hrs. I would highly recommend this activity to anyone. read more

Had an amazing time on the water last Friday! The guides are helpful, fun and extremely knowledgeable. Shout out to Adam who happened to be our guide! Thanks for the great time. read more

I would highly recommend this company to everyone! They are all so friendly and knowledgable and create a fun, safe and unforgettable experience. Dave, our guide was hilarious and entertaining. He was also so personable and took the time to get to know each and every one of us on board his raft. As soon as we were done the tour I was already looking at booking our next trip! (Dave, if you read this, thank you so much for an incredible day! We can't wait to come again and fingers crossed that we get to ride with you every time! - Rebecca and Cotie (& 2 month old Theodore)) read more

If rating our raft guides it's a 5 hands down . Max and Alex were super funny, entertained the entire time and kept us going. We had kids so we did the lower level raft trip. I give it a 3 for setup as it was really "pack em in". And that's okay. I get it. Money's money. But there were three full buses and we all rode together. 1.5 hours on the actual river and 2.5 hours of being run through like a tourist. Take that into consideration when choosing your trip company. But a good time was had. read more

Our rafting trip with Chinook was one of the highlights of our trip to the Canadian Rockies. They were organized, friendly, instructive, and helpful. I highly recommend taking a trip with Chinook Rafting if you are in the area. As anyone with half a brain can tell, the glacier water rivers of the Canadian Rockies are "refreshing." Chinook supplies wetsuits, booties, splash jackets, and fleece for their trips. The equipment is clean and dry when they give it to you. Of course, they also provide helmets and life jackets for safety. Basically, they provide everything for what I thought was a fairly reasonable price of $86 for adults and $56 for kids under 15. Our trip was on the Kananaskis River, which is a class 2 - 3 river. This is the river they allow kids to ride, and we have two kids. Therefore, this was the trip for us. Interestingly, the Kananaskis River has an on / off switch. The river only runs during the afternoon when the power company needs it to flow for generating electricity. Our guide told us this allows people to go into the riverbed when the river is "off" to fix the rapids. That way, the rapids are always fun and manageable. Our guide, Adam, was great. He was informative and friendly. He made sure we were comfortable and confident in the raft. He engaged all of us and made the trip a lot of fun. You will get wet on this trip. The water is cold, or as the Canadians say, "refreshing." You even have an opportunity to go into the water. I did this with my two boys because I couldn't let them think I couldn't handle the river just as well as they did. It was SOOOOO REFRESHING I needed some time to catch my breath when I went into the water. Our only mistake with this trip was booking the rafting early in the trip. Every day after the rafting trip the kids asked if we could go again. That is high praise from my boys. Finally, we purchased a DVD with photos of the trip. When we returned home, we discovered the disc was blank. Oops. I emailed Chinook, and they got right back to me with an apology and promise to mail out a new disc. We received the disc less than a week later. Very good customer service response. I would definitely book another trip with Chinook if I am in the area. read more

We had a fantastic time this morning with the staff out on the water. 10 out of 10. Everyone was friendly and informational. Wish we could go back tomorrow. This is definitely a must-do! read more

This was one of the most fun things I had done all vacation. It is a great experience and the raft guides make it so much fun with their stories and jokes. Be careful when near other rafts because the raft guides like to do water splash fights. While on the rafts you get great photos taken of you. read more

Richard (or we we liked to call him Thor) was our amazing guided. He was experienced, enthusiastic, and entertaining! He definitely made our rafting trip epic. Throughout the course we went over 3 Rapids and got to cliff jump from a choice of two different heights. this was a great birthday adventure for our group. #TeamThor read more

Chinook Rafting - They gave us wetsuits, fleece, jackets, and booties. We definitely thought we were going to be cold but the gear kept us warm. - Rafting/Kayaking Near Me - Banff, Alberta

Impeccably organized, communicative guides, and excellent educators for first time rafters. They know how to deliver and make a simple ride humorous even for the youngest of she or heart. read more

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SO MUCH FUN! We had a blast. We have rafted once before. This is not challenging, but there are moments when you definitely get some good rapids. Good for the family. Our guide was Duncan and he was very fun, kind and informative. All of the guides and staff were really friendly! Check this company out! read more

Book a rafting tour for our guys trip and it was awesome. Highly recommend the Cliff jump. Our guide Chris was highly skilled and had a sense of humor. This is a level 3 rafting trip and can easily be done with children. read more

We had a great time! Website is easy to navigate. Pick up location easy to find. All the staff were professional, friendly, enthusiastic. We booked the family friendly Kananaskis River trip. The entire process from check in to cookies and coffee at the end was efficient and smoothly executed. Our guide was very good, we felt completely safe at all times. Highly recommend! We would definitely go again! read more

Cute Australian guides almost made up for underwhelming rapids and scripted attempts to prolong the short ride

My wife and I decided to do rafting this part of her honeymoon ship in Kenmore, and shows generic rafting for our venture. We were not disappointed! We ended up doing the "family "trip on the Kananaskis river, which was class 2-3. Our guides Kat and Richard did a fantastic job leading us and our raft, while providing plenty of laughs along the way. We loved our time in the river and hope to come back some day to raft some faster sections! read more

Baited and Switched Vendor!!!!!! We booked an online trip and wanted to input the 20% off coupon that we had, but couldn't because their website does not allow for it. So, we brought the coupon the day of the trip and they said that they can't honor it again. So, I am perplexed on how and when the coupon can be used. Spoke with the guides, they said that they don't do any transactions, but yet they freely took our $30 for the photo disc, but yet they couldn't make or perhaps call someone to adjust our payment. Good luck with this outfit, better off going with another place that will treat their customers right!!! read more

Loved this experience from start to finish. Our guide Chris Burnham was amazing! So attentive and knowledgeable. Can tell he loves what he does. Was such a family friendly activity and many memories made. Thanks so much to all the staff who were great! Highly recommend if you want some fun! read more

We had an excellent day of rafting on Horseshoe Canyon with our guide Carlos! We were promptly picked up at our hotel and whisked off to the base camp for our wet suits, booties, fleeces, helmets, and life jackets, not to mention some preliminary safety procedures. The crew did a really nice job of covering as much of the safety procedure as possible while we were traveling together from the base to the drop-in location which saved us a lot of time as there are A LOT of things that need going over (and rightfully so). When we got to our rafts, a few more advisories and we were off to enjoy some awesome rapids, a couple of fun - yet chilly - cliff jumps, and some beautiful scenery. While the water looked a little dangerous at times, the guides were so adept at their jobs that they almost took a little of the thrill from the day as I never felt in danger at all (although this made my wife feel quite happy!). Still, I can't imagine a better experience and a nicer group of gents to see us through the morning. Easily the most fun we had during our time in Banff - highly recommended. read more

This was so much fun!!! I had a blast with my guide Duncan, and all the other guides are super amped up as well. They're really funny and nice, and do their best to make sure you have an excellent time on the water! Thanks guys! read more

I'd like to echo the the other responders. Chinook was very well organized with what appeared to be gear in great condition. Everybody was friendly and the Horseshoe Canyon trip was fantastic and the weather cooperated. By all accounts the trip was well worth it. Our guide, James, did a nice job of keeping it entertaining and making the slow parts fun with facts about the river and stories about various movies that were filmed there. I felt very safe, even with a kid that was at the bottom end of the age range. They did an especially nice job of segregating different "types" of people. I had two kids with me and we went in what I would call a family friendly boat, while a group of guys on what appeared to be a bachelor party were paired up with young people that seemed to fit together. I really appreciated who they paired us with. I thought the cliff jump was pretty fun. The 10ft jump is something almost everyone could do while the 30 footer was a bit more of a challenge. If English isn't your first language you might want to really pay attention to the instructions carefully, on person had a rather interesting swim in. I really liked their $30 for a memory stick with all of the pictures. That is a very reasonable way to do pictures. I highly recommend this trip. The only negative was the photography. Chinook was organized for photo opportunities that were scenic but in our case there were simple photography errors made "Frameable" images into "alright for Facebook" images. Our faces had giant shadows across them in the setup family shot, our cliff jump one was out of focus, one was missed completely and one was just stepping off. I get that not every picture turns out and there were almost 100 people there, but shadows across a face in a setup shot that they do every day is a pretty basic mistake, that said I did buy the photos so they weren't that bad :) If you are interested in the photographs a few points to consider would be to take off hats and helmets, or tell the photographer to prevent shadows. If you take the horseshoe canyon trip sit on the right side of the raft and sit towards the front to increase your odds of being in the pictures without someone being in front of you. read more

Amazing. It was a blast. My wife was terrified of going and now she is raving about white water rafting and wants to go again. Great guides and lots of fun. Totally worth it read more